Australia’s first lithium-ion battery production facility to open this year
The $28 million site located near Newcastle will build batteries for electric trucks and buses tailored for Australian weather conditions.
Construction of Australia’s first lithium-ion battery production facility has begun near Newcastle, with commercial vehicle power packs due to go into production by July.
The 4000 square metre site – run by start-up Energy Renaissance – will produce batteries tailored to Australian weather conditions, with a focus on commercial vehicles and buses.
Development costs will total approximately $28 million, and the facility will employ “up to” 100 people, according to a spokesperson for the project.
Annual battery output will initially sit at approximately 48 megawatt hours, before increasing to 180 megawatt hours by 2022.
Jens Goennemann – managing director of the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, which has invested in the site – told CarAdvice: "Energy Renaissance’s announcement of on-shore, Lithium-ion battery manufacturing is exactly what we need more of in Australia."
"By building local manufacturing capability and adding value to domestic commodities, [Australia] will be able to supply critical componentry to local and global automotive [vehicle manufacturers]."
Mr Goennemann said Australia has “an opportunity to lead the world when it comes to energy transition, while adding value to our abundant natural resources.”
He said the company's hot-climate battery technology “has numerous applications across ... energy, defence, commercial and industrial – both domestically and abroad.”
The site has a theoretical maximum output of 5.3 gigawatt hours per annum, however a spokesperson for Energy Renaissance said expansion beyond 2022 would be driven by market demand.